Rylan’s new documentary will fire you up for Football v Homophobia’s Month of Action
The film has an emotional impact and shows the need for community-led campaigning.
Jon is a football journalist who is the founder and lead of Sports Media LGBT+ and a writer for Outsports.com and Sky Sports. Here, he previews a new documentary exploring LGBTQ+ identity and football, as Football v Homophobia Month of Action kicks off.
Enjoy.
Adam
–
By Jon Holmes
The teaser trailer is out for a new deep-dive TV documentary about being LGBTQ+ in football - ‘Rylan: Football, Homophobia and Me’, showing on TNT Sports in February.
There have been a few of these docs down the years, including Britain’s Gay Footballers (BBC Three, 2012); two fronted by Gareth Thomas (BBC, 2017 and 2019); Football’s Coming Out (Channel 4, 2022); Rio Ferdinand’s Tipping Point (Prime Video, 2022).
Opinions always vary on how effective they are, but they certainly get people talking. You need only look at the recent reactions to ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ to see the ongoing power of the small screen.
Rylan’s popularity should ensure extra eyeballs are on this film produced by Buzz 16 but this is not about celebrity. The presenter takes us back to his East End roots, reliving a harrowing childhood memory that left him hospitalised, and captures how being a West Ham United fan was woven into the fabric of his upbringing.
In my role as a journalist, founder of Sports Media LGBT+ and Football v Homophobia campaigner, I’ve contributed to some of the previous docs and I pop up in this one too (apologies in advance for my flappy hands).
There are multiple reasons why men’s football still struggles to include queer people and Britain’s tabloid-led gossip culture and the spiralling “sewer” (as Rylan rightly puts it) of social media need to be highlighted.
What this doc does better than most is reflect how connected we now are in the game as LGBTQ+ people and allies. There’s the fan group part of the picture, well portrayed by Pride of Irons, and the playing side, with two outstanding ambassadors for the community featured in Matt Morton and Jahmal Howlett-Mundle.
At one point, Jahmal shows Rylan the video of him coming out to his teammates - it went viral and helped to set him free. Football’s conformity had built a closet around him. “I definitely had to hide my identity… I felt as though I had to put up a shield,” he says.
Later, we see Jahmal in Scotland attending an educational session led by Zander Murray, Scotland’s only out gay senior male player. Zander’s superb doc ‘Disclosure: Out on the Pitch’ is still on BBC iPlayer and it also comes highly recommended.
In the last couple of years, at different times, FvH and Sports Media LGBT+ have brought Matt, Jahmal, Zander and other LGBTQ+ players, coaches and officials together in person and online. They’ve bonded over their experiences, provided each other with advice and opportunities, and become firm friends.
The LGBTQ+ Professionals in Football Collective network, the FvH Awards gala (grab a ticket for February 23 in Manchester!) and our Football Pride summer festival are all part of the wider volunteer-led FvH initiative, which celebrates its 15th annual Month of Action in February.
The continuing strength of FvH lies in its community-led campaigning spirit and how it rallies those across the game to stand up to anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. More than ever, with reports of homophobia spiking at grassroots and online, people are calling for a clear focus on tackling hate.
FvH does this work all year round through education, resources, content and events but the Month of Action in what is also LGBT+ History Month is when we ask everyone to energise the message of ‘Football for Everyone’ in whatever space they’re in.
There will be naysayers of course, and not just the ‘stop ramming this down my throat’ mob (a phrase any amateur psychoanalyst could unpick) or the legions of trolls on X.
Sometimes it’s indifference and avoidance that hurts most – in Rylan’s doc, Thomas Hitzlsperger asks why there have barely been any other retired players like him to come out, anywhere in the world, let alone current pros.
I’ve always been passionate about sharing stories and I consider it a great privilege to have helped many queer people in football tell theirs on platforms like Sky Sports, Outsports and our FvH Podcast, while connecting the dots for others through our Sports Media LGBT+ family which includes Out and Out Football.
There was a moment during the last FvH Awards that summed it up for me. Proud Lilywhites won in the fan group category and Chris Paouros stepped up to the mic.
“While homophobic and transphobic hate is on the rise, while we’re being attacked on our streets and in our parks, while our trans siblings are under attack every single day in the media and everywhere else, we’ll do this and continue to do this,” she told the audience.
“Football is for everyone – this is our world!”
As Rylan’s doc demonstrates, our representation is growing and we’re working together across the game. Join the fight with Football v Homophobia this February, and beyond.
‘Rylan: Football, Homophobia and Me’ premieres on TNT Sports on Tuesday 13 February.
